Is It Better To Buy Or To Build A Home?
07 Mar 2020
You’re looking to move into your very own home, but the question before you seems to big, it can be hard to properly compare the two answers. Do you build or do you buy? We’re going to look at the question with a set of comparisons, helping you get a better idea of which suits your needs.
Price
There’s no denying it, the cost of building a home is significantly more than buying a home, on average. However, you can opt to build a less expensive home and you do have more control over the costs when you’re building. From materials to choosing custom builds and pre-fabricated, there are a lot of ways to save money. But with buying a home, there’s also the opportunity to haggle down the price, so there’s wiggle room in both choices.
Time
Building a home takes time. On average, it takes around three to four months. With a pre-fabricated home, that time can be reduced, but that also reduces how much control you have over the features and layout too. That said, buying a home isn’t necessarily going to take any less time. The more particular you are on your wants and needs the longer it might take you to find a home that meets your standards.
Control
Everyone has a list of wants vs. needs when it comes to finding a home. However, only with the help of a custom home builder can you fulfil every single one of them. When you opt for buying, you can hope to find the home that’s as close to your wants as possible. However, you don’t have any control over what’s available, really, only which of the homes you choose that are currently on the market.
Features
With the additional level of control you get over a home you build, you can also choose the most modern features and finishes, including more energy-efficient materials and appliances. However, when you’re buying a home, you might face higher energy costs due to inefficient installations and materials. If you want to have a truly modern home, you might have to budget for a renovation after buying, which might take you a little time. The bigger the changes you want to make, the higher the costs will be.
Maintenance
Every home needs preventative maintenance every year to prevent plumbing issues, air leaks, and the like. However, with a new home, you get a perfectly complete and working build from the get-go. With an older house, you might find your DIY list growing considerably after you move in, have a look around, and get a feel for life there. As such, sometimes, buying a fixer-upper can actually be a lot more expensive and more of a burden than building from scratch.
There is always a time to buy and a time to build. You need to decide what your priorities are, whether you’re willing to pay for your perfect home, or whether you want to save time and money to settle for the next best thing.
Cheers,
Big Daddy
If you would like me to review your product, service, restaurant, or travel destination, please send me an email at craig@bigdaddykreativ.ca or tweet me at @BigDaddyKreativ
Craig Silva
Craig is a husband, a father, team leader, travel and food writer, senior youth group coordinator, designer, brander, community builder, volunteer, and social media strategist. Craig likes to travel, go camping, go on road trips, watch movies, build stuff, operate the grill, and sing with his band. Craig is a member of the Travel Media Association of Canada. In June 2017, PR firm Cision identified Craig as one of Canada’s top 10 most popular male bloggers in the parents and family space.
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